That Stretch of Highway
by stuckbeingrachel
Summary: [Finally, KT has her own love story! Follow her journey of many bumps along a stretch of highway with Braden Alexander as they slowly make their way down the street.] (I promise, I'll fix the summary later) KT/OC pairing! Whoop! Read and review!


**Okay, new story! Now I know everyone likes to pair KT up with Fabian and Eddie and sometimes Jerome... (?-?) and also a tree? Ktree... But anyway, I thought that she could use a little romance and I like this idea...because Alex Shipp (who plays KT), sings- and this is just gonna be a lot of fun. Okay. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the songs that'll be in this story. I don't own SayWeCanFly. (And if you don't know him, you know what to do.) I don't own HOA or the characters. I do, however, own Braden. Braden _Alexander. _Not Braden _Barrie. _Although I wish I did...  
**

**Enjoy!**

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Jerome Clarke popped up next to his friends and grabbed his girlfriend's hand. "How is everyone today?"

"What's got you in a good mood?" Mara Jaffray laughed, brown eyes sparkling up at him.

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead. "A really good friend of mine started school here today; I'm gonna go look for him in a minute."

"I'd love to meet him," she commented.

"Is he nice?" Willow asked from beside Alfie.

"Oh yeah, he's one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. It's always amazed me. He's one of the 'glass is always half full' types, though he wasn't always like that. But you'll figure it out once you meet him."

"Has anyone seen KT today?" Patricia asked, turning to look down the hallway, but didn't see their American friend.

"No, she wasn't at breakfast either." Alfie remembered.

"We'll see her in class." Fabian said as they entered the lounge.

But in the corner of the room, seated on one of the sofas was a boy about sixteen years old. He had brown hair that whipped across his face and pale skin. He wore the school uniform, the blazer draped over the back of the couch and the top buttons of the shirt unbuttoned with the tie loose around his neck. He was strumming a guitar gently, nimble fingers playing the notes perfectly.

"_I know that sometimes life gets rough, but that's never a reason to give up. Keep your heart up in the clouds; never let the people drag you down. I have learned to chase my dreams. I know that if I don't they will get away from me. So I do what I love to do; I do what I love to do_." He sang.

"He likes music," Jerome whispered to Mara and she smiled up at him.

He looked up when they applauded him. "Thanks," he gave them a shy half-smile, double lip ring glinting in the light of the sun shining through the windows.

"How's it going, mate?" Jerome walked over to him and they fist bumped.

"Pretty good," he replied, looking up at him.

"How's your mum?"

"Still the greatest cook ever." He bragged. "How's your sister?"

"Still the most annoying little poop ever." Jerome replied, receiving a playful scolding slap on the arm from Mara.

Jerome's friend laughed. "You must be Mara; I've heard a lot about you."

"I really wish I could say the same about you, but Jerome doesn't talk about his friends very often." she said sympathetically, shaking his hand. She sort of bent down so she could look into his blue eyes and they followed her movements. Jerome gripped her shoulders and pulled her back up.

"He doesn't like it when you do that." He explained gently into her ear.

"What do you mean?"

Jerome shook his head and Mara's eyes flitted to his friend.

"I'm Braden Alexander, by the way." He told her and the rest of them introduced themselves. And he knew how to talk to each and every one of them.

"So you wanna see the school, bro?" Jerome asked, clapping his hands together once everyone was acquainted.

"Yeah," he grinned.

Jerome nodded and walked around the couch, rolling a wheelchair around to him. Braden slightly struggled with lifting himself into the chair, but he succeeded and strapped his legs onto the foot rests.

"Lead the way, Jerome." he said and Jerome nodded.

He took Mara's hand and turned to the others, speaking lowly. "Don't pity him; don't offer to help him, let him try first, and wait until he asks for help. He hates it when people treat him differently just because he's disabled."

They nodded in understanding and left the room. Jerome and Mara followed them and then Braden wheeled his way out.

"Oh, gosh, I'm sorry!" KT gasped, skidding to a halt, almost falling on top of Braden. She laughed. "I keep running into people today."

"That's alright," Braden assured her.

"Hey, you're the new kid, right? Hi, I'm KT Rush." She held her hand out to him and he smiled, reaching out to shake it. She remained standing straight and Braden couldn't take his eyes off her as she explained that she had been running around looking for her friends. When she spotted them behind her, she waved. "Hey, guys, you know the new kid yet? He's nice."

"Yeah," Jerome laughed. "He's an old friend of mine."

"That's so cool! So you've already got friends," she said to Braden. "Finding friends will be no problem for you if you know Jerome."

"Yeah, he's pretty popular." He nodded.

She grinned and then bid him farewell, jogging up to Patricia and Eddie.

Braden's eyes followed her and Jerome chuckled, leaning on his wheelchair's handle. "Pretty, isn't she?"

"Yeah," he mumbled absentmindedly before jerking back to reality, looking up at Jerome. "I mean, please, sh-she's…"

"Pretty," Jerome finished, pushing his head down playfully. "Come on, let's go."

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_**"And I try to put myself in your shoes, but I know that it won't be any use. When I say things'll only get better, does it mean anything at all?"**_

**-Rachel**


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